The Canadian electoral system is based on a

parliamentary system A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

, modelled on that of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Federal parliament

The

Parliament of Canada The Parliament of Canada (french: Parlement du Canada) is the federal legislature of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and is composed of three parts: the King, the Senate, and the House of Commons. By constitutional convention, the ...

consists of: *The

sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin , meaning 'above'. The roles of a sovereign vary from monarch, ruler or ...

(represented by the

governor general Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

) *An

upper house An upper house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smalle ...

(the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

), the members of which are appointed by the governor general on the recommendation of the

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

lower house A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...

(the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

), the members of which are chosen by the citizens of Canada through federal general elections.

Elections Canada Elections Canada (french: Élections Canada)The agency operates and brands itself as Elections Canada, its legal title is Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (). is the non-partisan agency responsible for administering Canadian federal electio ...

is the

non-partisan Nonpartisanism is a lack of affiliation with, and a lack of bias towards, a political party. While an Oxford English Dictionary definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., in most cases, nonpartisan refers sp ...

agency responsible for the conduct of

elections in Canada Canada holds elections for legislatures or governments in several jurisdictions: for the federal (national) government, provincial and territorial governments, and municipal governments. Elections are also held for self-governing First Nati ...

, including federal elections,

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

s and

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

s. It is headed by the chief electoral officer.

Representation in the House of Commons

Representation in the House of Commons is based on

electoral district An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

s, also known as constituencies or ridings. Each riding elects one member to the House of Commons, and the number of ridings is established through a formula set out in the

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

. Riding boundaries are established by independent commissions, and take into account: *

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives from ...

links *

economic An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

links New commissions are set up every ten years to make any necessary revisions to existing boundaries, following criteria defined in the ''

Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act The ''Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act'', commonly known by its acronym EBRA, is an act of the Parliament of Canada that was passed by the 26th Canadian Parliament in 1964. The Act was introduced as Bill C-72 with the long title ''An Act ...

''. The process of redefining electoral boundaries is called " redistribution", and the results are recorded in a "

representation order Representation may refer to: Law and politics *Representation (politics), political activities undertaken by elected representatives, as well as other theories ** Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a ...

". The ''

Representation Order of 2003 Representation may refer to: Law and politics * Representation (politics), political activities undertaken by elected representatives, as well as other theories ** Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a ...

'' set the number of ridings at 308. The 2012 redistribution set the number of ridings to 338.

Electoral method

Single-member plurality

Canada's

electoral system An electoral system or voting system is a set of rules that determine how elections and Referendum, referendums are conducted and how their results are determined. Electoral systems are used in politics to elect governments, while non-political ...

, sometimes referred to as a "

first-past-the-post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...

" system, is formally referred to as a single-member plurality system. The

candidate A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example: * to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs. * t ...

with the most votes in a riding wins a seat in the House of Commons and represents that riding as its

member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP). The

asks the leader of the party whose candidates have won the most seats to form a government; that leader becomes prime minister. The party whose candidates win the second largest number of seats becomes the Official Opposition. That party gets more finances and prestige than the other opposition parties. An absolute majority of the votes cast in the last election is not needed to have power, and is rarely achieved. As well, the party in power does not need to have a majority of seats in the House of Commons and under the current multi-party system, quite often does not have that. However to pass bills, the governing party must have support of a majority of MPs. Without majority support, the government falls and a new party is named government or an election has to be held. Four parties have achieved power at the federal level in Canada's history the original Conservatives, the Liberals, the Progressive Conservatives and the modern Conservatives.

Turnout

Voter turnout fell dramatically between 1962 (79%) and 2011 (61.4%). The Gallagher Index of disproportionality for Canadian federal elections in that period has ranged from 6.26 to 20.91, in line with some of its comparables — Australia, New Zealand and United States (presidential electoral college), but significantly higher than many others as for example Belgium, Germany, Ireland, United States (House) and the Scandinavian countries. Voter turnout rose higher in 2015 to 68.5%, and to 66% in 2019.

Timing of election

Historically, the prime minister could ask the governor general to call an election at virtually any time, although one had to be called no later than five years after the return of the writs under section 4 of the ''

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms The ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' (french: Charte canadienne des droits et libertés), often simply referred to as the ''Charter'' in Canada, is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada, forming the first part o ...

''. In 2007, the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

Parliament passed an act requiring

fixed election dates in Canada In Canada, the federal government and all provinces and territories have enacted legislation setting fixed election dates so that elections occur on a more regular timeline (usually every four years) and the date of a forthcoming election is publ ...

every four years. This law does not curtail the power of the governor general to dissolve Parliament at any time, as was done for the 2008 election at the request of Prime Minister

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...

. If a government loses a

confidence motion A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

, traditionally the prime minister will ask the governor general to call an election. The governor general when approached by the prime minister who has lost a vote of confidence will traditionally call an election. However, it is not assured as some assume. The governor general also has the right to call the leader of the party they think would be most likely to be able to form a government and ask them if they can form the government. This happened in 1926 and is referred to as the King-Byng Affair.

Running for office

Any number of candidates may run for election in an electoral district, but each candidate may only run in one district, either independently or under the banner of a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

. Each party may endorse only one candidate per riding. Candidates who run for election without party affiliation may be designated as

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

or as having no affiliation. A political party is a group of people who together: * Establish a

and

by-laws A by-law (bye-law, by(e)law, by(e) law), or as it is most commonly known in the United States bylaws, is a set of rules or law established by an organization or community so as to regulate itself, as allowed or provided for by some higher authorit ...

* Elect a

leader Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets vi ...

and other officers * Endorse

candidates A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example: * to be election, elected to an official, office — in this case a Preselection, candida ...

for election to the House of Commons. To obtain the right to put the party name on the

ballot A ballot is a device used to cast votes in an election and may be found as a piece of paper or a small ball used in secret voting. It was originally a small ball (see blackballing) used to record decisions made by voters in Italy around the 16t ...

, under the names of the candidates it endorses, a political party must register with the chief electoral officer. , there were 22 registered political parties operating at the federal level in Canada.

Governing party

After an election, the party with the most elected representatives usually becomes the governing party. The leader of this party is then summoned by the governor-general and sworn in as

Prime Minister of Canada The prime minister of Canada (french: premier ministre du Canada, link=no) is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the Confidence and supply, confidence of a majority the elected Hou ...

shortly after the election concludes. The party with the second largest number of MPs is called the

Official Opposition Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''th ...

. Each of the elected candidates has a seat in the House of Commons, where they debate and vote on draft legislation (called

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

s) and thus attempt to have an influence on government policy. A party having a majority of the seats can pass what it wants despite any opposition from the group(s) holding the minority of seats, but the imperative to be re-elected and any moral pressure the opposition can impose may temper its legislative agenda

Right to vote

All citizens (18 years and older) have the right to a voice in choosing their parliamentary representatives. Canada's electoral law requires the chief electoral officer to inform the public about the system and about individual rights under that system and to remove obstacles that may make voting difficult for some.

Information to voter

During an election, Elections Canada informs Canadians about their

right to vote Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

, how to get on the National Register of Electors and the voter's list, and where and how they can vote. Its public information activities include *News releases. *Advertisements in newspapers and on television and radio, brochures, posters. *A

toll-free A toll-free telephone number or freephone number is a telephone number that is billed for all arriving calls. For the calling party, a call to a toll-free number from a landline is free of charge. A toll-free number is identified by a dialing prefi ...

telephone inquiries center. *A website. *Meetings with community and

ethnocultural An ethnoreligious group (or an ethno-religious group) is a grouping of people who are unified by a common religious and ethnic background. Furthermore, the term ethno-religious group, along with ethno-regional and ethno-linguistic groups, is a s ...

groups. Between elections, the agency publishes additional background information for the public, keeps its telephone enquiries centre and website open to answer questions, and works with educators to encourage young people to vote when they become eligible (18 years and older).

Voting accommodations

Helping to remove obstacles to voting is an important part of Elections Canada's work. Voters who are not able to vote on polling day can vote at the

advance poll Early voting, also called advance polling or pre-poll voting, is a convenience voting process by which voters in a public election can vote before a scheduled election day. Early voting can take place remotely, such as via postal voting, or in ...

s. A mail-in special ballot is available for Canadians who are away from their ridings, travelling or temporarily resident overseas. Even Canadians in their own ridings during the election period may use the special ballot if they do not wish to go to a

polling station A polling place is where voters cast their ballots in elections. The phrase polling station is also used in American English and British English, although polling place is the building

. In special cases, electors with a disability may vote at home, in the presence of an election officer. Mobile polls serve voters living in certain institutions, such as nursing homes for people who are elderly or who have a disability. Wherever possible, election officers at polling stations speak both official languages (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and French). In addition, a deputy

returning officer In various parliamentary systems, a returning officer is responsible for overseeing elections in one or more constituencies. Australia In Australia a returning officer is an employee of the Australian Electoral Commission or a state electoral c ...

can appoint and swear in an interpreter to help communicate with a voter. All votes are made on the same standard heavy paper ballot, which is inserted in a standard cardboard box, furnished by Elections Canada. The ballot and the box are devised to ensure that no one except the elector knows the individual choice that was made.

Voting Reform

Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, has opened the way for some form of voting reform in Canada. Specifically, he is in favour of adapting

instant-runoff voting Instant-runoff voting (IRV) is a type of ranked preferential voting method. It uses a majority voting rule in single-winner elections where there are more than two candidates. It is commonly referred to as ranked-choice voting (RCV) in the Un ...

, often referred to as ''ranked voting'' or the ''alternative vote''. Some groups, however, contest this decision in favour of a more

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

based system, arguing that the alternative vote will further skew election results in favour of Trudeau's party.

References

External links

Elections CanadaCanada’s Electoral System: Introduction to Federal and Provincial Elections , Mapleleafweb.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Canadian Electoral System Elections in Canada Electoral systems by country